This I Promise You
2000
Richard Marx wrote it for a girl group, rewrote the harmonies for five men, and topped adult contemporary thirteen weeks.
★ 2.1
The Songs canon
Sourced and sung.
Every song chosen by hand, with the recording to play it.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Too Close
2011
Diplo and Switch wrapped a breakup song in dubstep, and a Microsoft browser ad made it a worldwide hit.
★ 2.6
Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
1995 · From Waiting to Exhale (soundtrack)
Babyface hummed a placeholder where the words should go, kept it, and watched the record debut at number one.
★ 3.0
Everybody Plays the Fool (Aaron Neville)
1991
Linda Ronstadt produced it, and Neville's falsetto turns the Main Ingredient's 1972 consolation into something even gentler.
★ 3.2
Bang Bang
2014
Grande recorded it first and disliked her take; Jessie J took over, Minaj added a verse, all three stayed.
★ 3.2
The Man
2014
A lyric lifted from Your Song put Elton John and Bernie Taupin on the credits of a self-made anthem.
★ 3.3
It Will Rain
2011
Half-finished on the Hooligans tour, the melody landed once Mars saw an early cut of Breaking Dawn.
★ 3.3
Nothing But a Heartache
1968
Two Pearce sisters and Viola Billups on a British label, a Northern soul classic that outlived its modest chart run.
★ 3.4
Every Time I Close My Eyes
1997
Babyface wrote it for Luther Vandross, who declined; Mariah Carey sang backing and Kenny G played soprano sax.
★ 3.4
Lately (Jodeci)
1993
Twenty-four hours to learn a Stevie Wonder ballad for MTV Unplugged, and K-Ci and JoJo owned it.
★ 3.6
Too Much Heaven
1978
Nine layers of three-part harmony, twenty-seven voices in all, and every publishing royalty signed over to UNICEF.
★ 3.8
You Gotta Be
1994
Written out of a breakup and a Shakti Gawain self-help book, then re-released in Britain three times until it stuck.
★ 4.2
Shining Star (The Manhattans)
1980
Cut in Chicago with Leo Graham producing, Gerald Alston's lead vocal won the group their only Grammy.
★ 4.3
All My Life
1998
JoJo Hailey wrote it thinking of his daughter, then kept it, and weddings have not let go since.
★ 4.4
Somebody's Watching Me
1984
Berry Gordy's son signed to Motown without telling him, then got Michael Jackson to sing the chorus uncredited.
★ 4.4
Oh, What a Night
1956
Vee-Jay released it in 1956 as doo-wop; the Dells recut it thirteen years later and reached the pop ten.
★ 4.4
Back at One
1999
Five numbered steps, a half-step key lift for the final chorus, and eight weeks stuck behind Santana's Smooth.
★ 4.5
Hero
1993
Written for Gloria Estefan until Mottola heard the demo; Carey thought it schmaltzy and took it to number one.
★ 4.5
I'm Not the Only One
2014
Smith and Jimmy Napes wrote it about someone else's marriage, and Simon Hale's strings carry the slow march.
★ 4.6